True Stories Sharing the Art and Science of Fascinating Insects

Tag Archives: sun on your back

Our Followers have pleasantly increased in number, and they have been visiting wingedbeauty.com more often. Good. No, very Good. We hope that we uplift. We remind, that there is so much beauty around us. We may relish this beauty by stepping out of our homes, offices and communities . . . into our garden or our local park or our nearest regional park or beyond to a not too far away wildlife preserve/refuge. We can marvel at the fragility of beautiful things, and then consider: They are wild! and that fragility is accompanied by real durability and near total absence of timidity. We lock ourselves in at night. Butterflies are out there, unguarded and at risk. Oh, I could go on . . .

OK. So why is Jeff posting this image, from Israel’s sylvan Ramat Hanadiv horticultural gardens, of Papilio machaon?This image was taken at some distance, and is difficult to study.

Well it was March 12th. I had been seeking Israeli butterflies for several years, each time I visited Israel from the U.S.. Papilio machaon had teased me many times. Seen but always at a distance; always fleeing when I approached as if: OK, you’re 25 feet away . . . That’s it, Bye, bye!Remember that I photo Macro- and must approach within less than 2 feet from my subject.

This is all so familiar to photographers who have pursued the real challenge of photographing butterflies. Right time, right place, right temperature, Sun ‘out,’ little or no wind, no people around, sun to your back, wildflowers in bloom and producing nectar, no competing butterflies, flies, wasps, moths, beetles intimidating your subject.The list goes on and on.

So when I saw this Swallowtail, I changed my routine. I shot first, at a far distance, Pop! pop! pop! pop! Then I continued my sloooooow approach and it was g-o-n-e.

But, I got an image! My first usable image of Papilio machaon. Very good.